Austria: Civil Law vs. Sharia Law

Austria has emerged as a major base for radical Islam and as a central hub for European jihadists to fight in Syria.

The proposed revisions would, among other changes, regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran to prevent its "misinterpretation" by Islamic extremists.

Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic sharia law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws.

Leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

Official statistics show that nearly 60% of the inhabitants of Vienna are immigrants or foreigners. The massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country, appears irreversible.

The Austrian government has unveiled a sweeping overhaul of the country's century-old "Islam Law" that governs the legal status of Austria's Muslim community.

The proposed revisions—which are aimed at cracking down on Islamic extremism in Austria—would regulate the training and hiring of Muslim clerics, prohibit the foreign funding of mosques, and establish an official German-language version of the Koran, among other changes.

The government says the modifications would give Muslims legal parity with other religious groups in Austria. But the leaders of Austria's Muslim community counter that the contemplated new law amounts to "institutionalized Islamophobia."

The updated Islam Law (Islamgesetz) was presented as a draft bill to parliament on October 2 and overhauls the current law, which dates back to 1912.

The original law was brought into being to help integrate Muslim soldiers into the Habsburg Army after the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1908. The law recognized Islam as a religious community in Austria, and allowed Muslims to practice their religion in accordance with the laws of the state.

After the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed in the aftermath of World War I, the number of Muslims in Austria was reduced to just a few hundred people. After World War II, however, Austria's Muslim population increased rapidly with the arrival of "guest workers" from Turkey and the Balkans in the 1960s, and refugees from Bosnia in the 1990s.

The Muslim population in Austria now exceeds 500,000 (or roughly 6% of the total population), up from an estimated 150,000 (or 2%) in 1990. The Muslim population is expected to reach 800,000 (or 9.5%) by 2030, according to recent estimates.

Official statistics show that nearly 60% of the inhabitants of Vienna, the capital and largest city of Austria, are immigrants or foreigners.

The massive demographic and religious shift underway in Austria, traditionally a Roman Catholic country, appears irreversible. In Vienna, for example, Muslim students now outnumber Catholic students at middle and secondary schools. Muslim students are also on the verge of overtaking Catholics in Viennese elementary schools.

At the same time, Austria has emerged as a major base for radical Islam. A June 2014 report by the Austrian intelligence agency [BVT] warned of the "exploding radicalization of the Salafist scene in Austria." Salafism is an anti-Western ideology that seeks to impose Islamic sharia law.

Austria has also emerged as a central hub for European jihadists seeking to fight in Syria, because Austria's geographic location provides easy access to land routes through the Balkans.

The Austrian Islamist known as "Abu Hamza al-Austria," fighting in Syria, pictured from his jihadist recruitment video.

In an interview with Austrian Public Radio Ö1-Morgenjournal, the Austrian Minister for Integration and Foreign Affairs, Sebastian Kurz, said the rapid rise of Islam in Austria has rendered the old Islam Law obsolete. A new law is needed, he said, to stipulate more clearly the rights and responsibilities of Muslims living in the country.

From now on, according to Kurz, Muslims residing in Austria will be expected to adhere to Austrian values and to acknowledge the primacy of Austrian law over Islamic Sharia law. In practice, he said, this means that Muslims would be prohibited from citing Islamic law as legal justification for ignoring or disobeying Austrian civil laws. Sharia law has "no place" in Austria, he stressed.

The new law would regulate at least a dozen separate issues, including relatively non-controversial matters such as Muslim holidays, Muslim cemeteries, Muslim dietary practices and the activities of Muslim clergy in hospitals, prisons and the army.

More significantly, however, the bill seeks to limit the religious and political influence of foreign governments within the Austrian Muslim community by prohibiting foreign countries—presumably Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the Arab Gulf states—from financing Islamic centers and mosques in Austria.

The legislation also seeks to prevent the growth of a parallel Islamic society in Austria by regulating mosques and requiring clerics to be trained exclusively at Austrian universities. The new law would require Muslim groups to terminate the employment of clerics who have criminal records or who are deemed to pose a threat to public safety.

The new restrictions—including an employment ban for foreign clerics in Austria—would apply especially to Turkey: 65 of the 300 Muslim clerics working in Austria are Turkish civil servants whose salaries are being paid for by the Turkish government's Religious Affairs Directorate, the Diyanet.

Muslims leaders in Austria say that in the absence of foreign funding, many mosques in Austria would have to be "closed immediately" because they are not financially viable apart from outside support. Moreover, they argue, the prohibition of foreign funding violates the constitution because the same restrictions are not being applied to Christians or Jews.

The foreign funding restrictions, however, do not appear to apply to the Vienna-based King Abdullah International Center for Inter-Religious and Inter-Cultural Dialogue. Critics say the multi-million-dollar institution, which was inaugurated in November 2012, is an effort by Saudi Arabia to establish a permanent "propaganda center" in central Europe from which to spread the anti-Western Wahhabi sect of Islam throughout the rest of Europe.

The new Islam Law also requires the Austrian Muslim community to agree on a standardized German-language translation of the Koran, the Hadiths and other Islamic religious texts. The government has argued that an official version of the texts would prevent their "misinterpretation" by Islamic extremists.

"There are countless translations, countless interpretations," Kurz told public radio Ö1. "We will be pushing for this vigorously. It is also in the interest of the Muslim community that words are correctly interpreted and reproduced."

However, Muslim leaders say it would be next to impossible for Sunnis, Shiites and Alawites to agree on a "correct" translation of the Koran. In any event, they say, the state cannot outlaw alternative translations.

A group called Muslim Youth of Austria [MJÖ] has described the new Islam Law as an "intolerable legal scandal" that seeks to "place the broad mainstream of Muslims either under state supervision, or to split them into weak and therefore meaningless groups."

The president of the Austrian Islamic Community [IGGiÖ], Fuat Sanac, says the new law is "naïve" and treats Muslims as "second-class" citizens: "We do not agree with the draft Islam Law. It was presented to the public without our approval."

Sanac has vowed to file an appeal with Austria's constitutional court to stop the new law, which he says "risks humiliating" the country's Muslim population.

Kurz maintains that the primary purpose of the new Islam Law is to establish the "primacy of national law over religious law."

The government hopes the new law will be approved by Parliament in November and enter into force sometime in 2015. However, Muslim opposition to the initiative may mean that the 1912 version of the law will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future.

Soeren Kern is a Senior Fellow at the New York-basedGatestone Institute. He is also Senior Fellow for European Politics at the Madrid-based Grupo de Estudios Estratégicos / Strategic Studies Group. Follow him onFacebook and onTwitter.

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11 Reader Comments

Tish • Oct 25, 2014 at 10:53

Absolutely nothing has changed since 11 September, 1683. The Muslim hordes were beaten back thanks to King Sobieski's Polish warriors arriving just in time to rescue the small band of brave defenders giving their lives at the "Gates of Vienna" or as the Muslims called.it the "Golden Apple" ..It was widely known then as it is today...Muslims want to dominate Europe and in their own words..."overtake the Vatican & change it to a mosque " Does anyone learn anything from history? If not...it is bound to be repeated! Dear Austria...do not let those brave defenders to have died in vain....Pass your laws and do what you must to avoid committing national suicide.. Look to your past, then ask yourselves one simple question...In all of history, have Muslims ever assimilated to a host country? Now you know you will need to do whatever is necessary to preserve your culture, your history, your language, your laws and most important..Your Very Existence! America sends her love and her prayers to Austria, her citizens & all who love & protect her. Gott segne Osterreich jetzt und fur immer

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David Walker • Oct 23, 2014 at 17:29

Good for Austria.

Let's hope this is the first of many initiatives to curtail the influence of extremist Islam in Europe - and subsequently, the rest of the World.

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Russell • Oct 22, 2014 at 01:45

The abuse of the privilege of life in a free country needs to be stopped. When you live in a country or emigrate to another country you should not be allowed to undermine the legal system and bring in laws from your country of origin in order to deliberately undermine the society and culture of your host country. Islamism needs to be controlled as it seeks to destroy Western civilization and the Islamist leaders have made this intent public on many occasions. The West should listen and adopt serious counter measures. More EU countries should follow this example.

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David England • Oct 21, 2014 at 19:11

Why are the Germans and Austrians tolerating this evil in their countries?

They need to be sent back to the middle east, period!

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angrybriton • Oct 21, 2014 at 17:51

Hopefully Austria will not waver on this, and other European nations follow suit. Who knows, even in cowardly and cowed 'multi-culti' Britain this too could happen if we elect UKIP. The alternative to this trend is too awful to contemplate.

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vivienne leijonhufvud • Oct 21, 2014 at 14:14

Well done Austria, I would suggest the rest of Europe follow this example and I would also include Scandinavia. Ireland, take note, allowed the Saudi Royal Family to donate €45 million for the construction of a Mosque on a 65 acre site in North Dublin. Ireland would have been far wiser to negotiate oil/gas drilling with a bona fide American Oil company or STATOIL/BRENT. Making such a decision would have eased Ireland out of the recession as her biggest market could have been the UK. Royalties earned from Shell Internationl 60% owned by SFR will bring more trouble. Already four Irish passport holders have been detained in Egypt for consorting with the Muslim Brotherhood. Furthermore, Roman Catholic Ireland practices FGM (female genital mutilation) by cutting the pelvic bone to increase the size of the birth canal during a difficult birth? The reason according to the Church is to ensure a woman produces a high number of births, 10 children according to Irish Catholicism is a godly number! Ireland still celebrates Beltain (May 1st) Winter Solstice 24/12 summer solstice 24/6 and Samhain 31/10 all under the guise of Christian festivals. Ireland has been found wanting among its Clerics, pedophiles, persecuting unmarried Mothers and refusing to sanction abortion in the case of Rape. Mary Robinson the last decent President of Ireland fought the case of a young Catholic girl raped by a family member. The girl needed to leave Ireland to procure a legal abortion in the UK. She was arrested by the Garda on boarding the ferry to UK. As recently as two years ago an Hindu woman died of septicemia (infected fetus in uterus) was refused an abortion again because of the Irish Roman Catholic Church. I do not believe even Pope Francis would have condoned the death of this Hindu woman. Ireland also persecutes gay men and women on a broad scale. Many of the LGBT community are today fighting for recognition and respect. Indeed Ireland is so backward it needs to be run by an objective-thinking government - instead most of the MPs are in power due to nepotism. There are only two MPs worth mentioning namely Luke (Ming) Flanagan and Fitz-Maurice. Irish MEPs, Ashton included are known antisemites. Don't be fooled by Irish blarney! You have all heard of the so called 'Troubles' out and out civil war between Irish Catholicism and Protestants. Ireland is known to back Palestine and slander Israel.

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Barry Jones • Oct 21, 2014 at 11:52

Given the unorthodox and alien style of the usurpation of the established traditions of host countries in the West from Middle-Eastern immigrants, it would seem prudent to legally limit the unfair and purposeful activities of those guest immigrants who cite the religious rights of their country of origin as justification for such action, and choose to undermine the national identities and lifestyles of countries from which they now claim accession for their inappropriately displaced lifestyles an accession which invariably impacts negatively upon the said host countries. Rule Of Law is intended to maintain the civil order that pertains to any given country or state. and when given for that country/state's defence can only be deemed eminently sensible.

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Geoff • Oct 21, 2014 at 11:42

Why do western governments wait so long before taking action against such a large group of immigrants which clearly has the ambition to be a law unto themselves?We can only hope the Austrian government has the courage and the commitment to bring in new laws as the article claims. There will be a lot of opposition to it, from within the Austrian nation as well as from the immigrants themselves.I hope the government of my country, the UK, will follow suit, but somehow I doubt they will have the courage or will to do so.I fear matters will have to get worse before they take action. I wish Austria well in their effort to rectify the situation.

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Huynen • Oct 21, 2014 at 08:19

China also monitors Koran translations.

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george • Oct 21, 2014 at 07:28

Well done Austria. There is no place in our European society for sharia law. If Muslims want to submit to sharia law, let them do it in a country where Islam holds sway, not in Europe. National Law is the only valid law. Religious laws should never take precedence.

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Hanna • Oct 21, 2014 at 06:44

What is it with Western Societies that they ALWAYS wake up too late? First with Nazism and now with Islamism. Austria was a normal European country, more or less, when the Nazis took over and destroyed it. Now they are back to square one with Islamism. Unfortunately, history has a tendency to repeat itself. I truly hope that it is NOT too late, but, under the circumstances, it is hard to be optimistic - Good Luck, Hanna.